Puzzle.



No. 781,438. PATENTED JAN'l 31. 1905.

PUZZLE.'

Arrmcu'rkon Pimm msn e. 1904.-

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@wia/Lon@ I l l ratented January 81, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

sOLoMoN MAAS, ,or New YORK, N. v4Y.` y

` PUZZLE.

SPECIFICATION forming pare of Letters PatentNo. 781,438, dated January 31, 1905. Application led June 6, 19(14. Serial No. 211,300.

` Be it known that I, SOLOMON MAAS, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the borough of the Bronx, city of New York, county and State of New York, have invented new and vuseful Improvements in' Puzzles, of which the My invention relates to the class of puzzles in'which a set of balls or rolling members are rolled from-certain starting point or pointsV over circuitous paths to a certain objective l the problem presented `by the puzzle.

point or points, with'certain traps or hazards or obstructions arranged along the paths to increase the d-iiiiculty of getting the balls to" the objective point, the described features being arranged upon a suitable tray or platform .which is designed to be held in the hand while being manipulated in the endeavor' tosolve The presentinventlon refers to this general class of puzzles in which the novel idea is used of having two dieren'tsets of balls or rolling .members which are started from different points and are to be rolled over routes which diifer in parts and are common in other parts to a certain objective point or points.

Another feature of the invention is that of the scene of the Russian-Japanese war which is being carried on at the present` date, and particularly at the famous point, Port Arthur, lChina, and Athe circuitous lpaths or routes.. which the puzzle members may be rolled over.

' I have illustrated'L a type of my invention in the accompanying drawings, wherein-- Figure l is a plan view of the improved puzzle. Fig. 2 is a View in vertical section of a portion ofthe puzzle, theplan of which section is indicated by line 2 2, Fig. 1.

`Referring to. the drawings, in which .like numbers of reference designate like parts throughout, 1 is a four-sided tray rectangular in shape, upon `the interior of `the bottom of `which is arranged sections or areas 2, 3,

and 31 on the general order of a geographical map.` the former section, 2, of which 1ndicates the' Peninsula of Liao Tung, China,

while the latter, 3 and 3b, represents the surrounding water of the Gulf of Pe-chi-li and the Yellow Sea. The marine section is divided into two parts 3 and 8b -by means of asunken obstruction 4, Which ris a partition and is supposed to indicate a so-called sunken vessel or suitable craft for blocking a channel,

and from this point on to the land extends a partition 5, and these two parts 4 and 5 divide the marine sections, so that 4the balls 6 in the former cannot get into the other section, in which are another set of balls, 7 the two sets of balls being distinguished from each other in sets by anysuitable sort of marking or colorling, they being here shown as distinguished by the set 6 being light in color and the set 7 being dark. The part 4 is in plan shaped like a marine vessel and stands up from the bottom of the tray and together with the part 5 forms a continuous wall or division between the marine sections 3 and 3b, so that the set of balls in one section cannot pass to the other and are thereby kept independent of each other. rlheballs 6 in the marine section 3 are to be rolled around a circuitous path provided by the upright partitions 8, 9, 10, and 11 in the eort to get them in the point marked Harbor at Port Arthur, and these balls 6, beingA the marine ones, have the harbor at that point as their objective pointQthe idea being that the city is then taken by these mem'- bers when they are rolled to that point. The

partition 12, and in the marine sections 3 and 3 are arranged what may be termed submarine mines 13 and 14, respectively, and which consist in depressions in which the ball may fall if not skilfully rolled around the same to avoid it, and this impedes the progress of the balls to that extent. The marine section 3, in which the so-called land or infantry members 7 are started, is guarded by suitable partitions 15, 16, and 17, there being an opening between 15 and 16 at the point 18, through which the balls may be readily rolled and thence be supposed to be landed on the shore at 19, from which point they are to be rolled along a circuitous path provided by a number of partitions, such as 20, 21, 22, 23` 24, 25, 26,

. 27, and 28, the objective point in this case being that of the point marked City in the loop-like partition 30. On the land-section 2 there are provided at different points suitable traps, indicated by the word Fort at 29, and in which the ball may get caught or lodged to impede its progress. The so-called forts 29 are made of thicker and more substantial pieces than the partitions and are formed with recesses or cavities leading off from the pathway of the balls formed by partitions and are of such size as to permit a ball to lodge therein unless care be used to make the ball escape such cavity. The partition 17 at one side provides a deep pocket 17 1, in which a ball after being landed may be trapped unless much care is used, and other arrangements of the partitions may be made to increase the difficulties of a player operating the puzzle by tilting the board in a well-known manner to roll one set of the balls into the harbor and the other into the city as the objective points. The so-called marine and land members 6 and 7, respectively, may have, if preferred, parts of the routes to the objective points in common on the land-section 2 by reason of an opening at 31, where the balls 6 may roll through onto the land-section and may then take the land route by any of the several passages formed by the partitions and may all reach the objective point marked City,

I formed by the looped partition 30. IVhile the balls 6 are shown as located below the point of the peninsula as the starting-point, they may be started higher up at the side at the left in Fig. 1, while the balls 7 may be started from the point indicated in said figure, thus increasing the diiculty of rolling the balls to the objective points, since in this case they start from points at opposite ends of the board or tray 1. While I have indicated several of the well-known points of interest on this peninsula-such as Dalny, Nan-Shan Hill, Niu- Ohwang, as well as the famous Manchurian railroad-other features true te the geography of this particular locality may be added in order to lend additional interest to the puzzle as an amusing device. ',lhc interior of the bottom of the tray is of course a liat surface for the balls to be readily rolled over by the user holding the tray in his hand and tilting it out of the horizontal in various angles to guide the balls over certain rou tes. '.l` he geographical features of this section of the country are illustrated in the form of an ordinary map, which may be variously colored, and the various partitions maybe made of wood or paper or other suitable material that is generally used in this class of puzzle.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A puzzle comprising a suitable tray having arranged upon the bottom thereof a representation of a certain geographical locality i11- cluding a fortiiicd point of land and the surrounding waters with a harbor for the said fortified point, an objective point located on the fortilied land-section and another objective point located in the harbor of said water-sec tion, a series of circuitous passages located upon the land-section and through which balls may be rolled to the objective point on the fortified land-section, a suitable obstruction or wall dividing the said water-section into two independent parts and one of said parts being provided with passage-ways leading` to the said harbor and the other said independent water part being provided with passageways leading to said land-section thence via said circuitous passages to said fertiiied point on the land, two differently-marked and distinct sets of balls one set starting from one part of said water-seetion and destined for the said harbor objective point and the other starting from the other part of said water-seetion and destined for .said fortified objective point 011 the land via the land-section, the said obstruction or dividing-wall of said water-section serving to prevent 011e set of balls from passing from its water-section into the other except by way of the la11d-section, the coastline of said land-section having an obstruction or wall extending along the same so as to divide the land from the water, the said passages leading from said water part to the land extending through said coast wall or part, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof l have hereunto set my hand in the presence of the two subscribing witnesses.

SOLOMON MAAS.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM H. STEIN, L. V. SrARks.

IOC

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